Australian Government

Federal Register of Legislation

Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines

No longer in force

Administered by

Department of Finance

This item is authorised by the following title:

Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013

Latest version

F2014L00908

30 June 2014 - 29 August 2017

Table of contents

Department of Finance (Governance and Resource Management) Copyright Notice Content © Commonwealth of Australia 2014 ISBN: 978-1-922096-60-9 (printed) ISBN: 978-1-922096-59-3 (online) With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, any material protected by a trade mark, and where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a HYPERLINK "Creative%20Commons%20Attribution%203.0%20Australia%20licence" Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence ( HYPERLINK "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/" http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/ ). The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the HYPERLINK "http://creativecommons.org/" Creative Commons website (accessible using the links provided) as is the HYPERLINK "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/legalcode" full legal code for the CC BY 3 AU licence . Use of the Coat of Arms The terms under which the Coat of Arms can be used are detailed on the following website: HYPERLINK "http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/coat-arms/" http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/coat-arms/ . Content from this website should be attributed as the Department of Finance. Foreword I am pleased to issue the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines under section 105C of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. Grants are widely used to achieve government policy objectives, involving the payment of billions of dollars each year to the non-government sector. Grants provide significant benefits to many Australians, through the Government working in partnership with individuals and organisations to deliver outcomes for the Australian public. The Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines establish the government’s policy framework under which government entities undertake their own grants administration activities. These guidelines articulate the government’s expectations for government entities involved in grants administration. The Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines establish the requirements and key principles that apply to all Commonwealth grants, whether one-off, low value grants or long-term, high-value activities. Significantly, these guidelines provide flexibility for Ministers and government entities to develop and implement grants administration processes, in consultation with stakeholders that are best suited and proportional to the specific granting activities. The Government is committed to simplifying and improving grants processes both for government entities and grant recipients. The application of proportionality principles and appropriate risk management in grants administration, as reflected in these guidelines, is vital to ensuring that officials do not overburden grants applicants or recipients. In particular, these guidelines seek to reduce inappropriate and duplicative reporting and encourage the use of longer term grant agreements, where appropriate. I commend the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines to all those in the Australian Government involved in grants administration. Mathias Cormann Minister for Finance Contents
Part 1 Mandatory Requirements
Part 2 Guidance on Key Principles